Database systems have long been used by businesses to record their commercial interactions with customers, vendors, financial institutions, and other third parties. Most database applications are transaction based—meaning that the application obtains all required data for a particular transaction before the transaction is written to the database.
Since the early days of database systems, it has long been a goal to automate the transfer of data between the business's computer systems and those of the other third parties. Early methods of transferring data between data base systems included exporting data (in accordance with a defined report) from a first system onto a magnetic tape or other data media. The data media is then physically transferred to a second system. While such a system was an improvement over manual entry of data, several draw backs existed. First, physical transfer of the data media could take a significant amount of time if mail or courier was used. Secondly, the three steps of writing the data file to the data media, transferring the data media, and loading the data file from the data media all required human intervention to be properly performed. Thirdly, both the application on the first system and the application on the second system had to be compatible—or, stated another way, the data file written to the data media by the first system had to be in a format that could be read and loaded into the second system.
Development of modems, value added networks (VAN), and Internet networking in general significantly improved the data transfer process. Rather than physically transferring a data file on magnetic tape or other data media, the data file could be transferred using a dial up connection between the two computer systems, a VAN connection, or an Internet connection.
Using a dial up connection, a modem associated with the first system could dial and establish a PSTN telephone line connection with a modem associated with the second system. An operator would be able to export the data file from the first system, transfer the data file to the second system over the PSTN connection, and an operator of the second system could load the data file into the second system.
A VAN connection is quite similar to a dial-up connection with the exception that the PSTN connection is continually maintained (e.g. a leased line) for security. Transfer of a data file between the first system and the second system over a VAN may include the operator of the first system exporting the data file, transferring the data file to the second computer system over the VAN, and an operator of the second system loading the data file into the second system.
Subsequent development of the Internet and secure file transfer systems such as the Secure File Transfer Protocol (SFTP) has made dial up connection and VAN technology obsolete for most data transfer application. Utilizing the Internet and SFTP technology, the operator of the first computer system would export the data file, log onto the SFTP server (that is networked to the second computer system), and upload the file to the SFTP server. The operator of the second computer system would then retrieve the file from the SFTP server and load the file into the second computer system.
While transferring of files using dial up connections, VAN connections, and FTP file transfer are a significant improvement over use of magnetic media for transferring data file, the two systems must still be compatible and human intervention is still required for the file transfer.
A separate field of technology known as web services is being developed to support platform independent processing calls over the Internet. Web Services are data processing services (referred to as methods) which are offered by a servicing application to a requesting application operating on a remote system.
The system offering the web services to requesting systems publishes a Web Service Description Language (WSDL) document which is an Extensible Markup Language (XML) document that describes the web service and is compliant with the Web Services Description Language (WSDL) protocol. The description of the web service may include the name of the web service, the tasks that it performs, the URL to which the method requests may be sent, and the XML structure and parameters required in a method request.
To obtain a published service, the requesting application sends a method call to the system as a Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) message within an HTTP wrapper. The SOAP message includes an XML method call which conforms to the required structure and parameters. So long as each system can build and interpret the XML data within the SOAP message within the HTTP wrapper, no compatibility between the two systems is required.
Web services enable applications to be written which request data from the web service providers. For example, a web server which provides stock quotes may publish the structure and parameters for requesting a stock quote, the method call may be required to include the ticker symbol corresponding to the requested quote. Such known web service systems are optimized for a web server system which provides information to a requesting application in response to receiving a method call for a method which the web service systems publishes as available.
Web service systems are optimized for unattended transfer of XML method calls and responses between a system and a web service provider. However, data transfer between a database system of a business and its third parties still is typically performed by exporting a transaction file, transferring the transaction file, and loading the transaction file at the second system—all steps that are facilitated by human intervention.
At the most general level, what is needed is a solution that enables unattended transfer of files over an open network, such as the Internet, between two unattended applications, each operating on remote and secure network systems. More specifically, what is needed is a solution that enables unattended transfer of files over an open network that does not suffer the difficulties and complications that would be encountered if attempting to configure and operate known Internet FTP systems.